'Act On CO2' - Further Analysis

Following on from my last post I decided to look a bit more closely at the paid search element of the 'Act On CO2' campaign.

Using the Google AdWords external traffic estimator tool it's quickly apparent that any surge in search activity for the term "act on co2" has either not happened or has not been picked up by Google's systems yet. To target the UK with an unlimited budget for the term (even on broad match), the system cannot find sufficient data to provide any forecast. Opening the targeting up to 'All Countries & Territories' does not alter the results.

TrafficEstimate.com, the reliability of which I cannot vouch for (I've no idea where they get their data) suggests the DFT site's received 132,200 visits in the last thirty days, the graphic suggesting this is actually fewer than in February! (though the gaps in March & April make me very reluctant to draw any sort of conclusions from this data).

Back to the PPC though...There are 2 versions of copy running on AdWords:

• Motorists are being asked to Help WITH Smarter Driving techniques
• Car buying and smarter driving tips to reduce your CO2 emissions

They appear to be displayed in even rotation. There's been an increase of bidding activity on the term "act on co2" in the last week - with 4 other ads being displayed. Interestingly one is for another government website and to my recollection has been showing since the campaign went live. It's about Government Grants and links to a page detailing eligibility for FREE gas/oil fired heating installations...

Also bidding are commercial sites www.ibuyeco.co.uk (selling 100% carbon neutral car insurance!), www.letsautomate.com (home automation products) & www.greencarsite.co.uk (as it sounds - selling 'green' cars). ibuyeco has even made it into the premium (yellow-highlighted) spot at times, indicating that it's receiving a high CTR and is considered highly relevant to the search term, doubtless pushing up the cost-per-click for the DfT.